‘Everything you’d want from Italy, all in one place’: Brescia, Lombardy’s hidden gem

The city’s rich history and culture have so far flown under the radar, but its fiercely proud inhabitants are determined to change that We have hardly begun walking before I spot the side alley, curving away from the main road in a patchwork of sunlit yellow walls, shuttered windows and shadowy archways. “What’s up there?” Elena, my guide to the city, pulls a wry smile. “That is Carmine. As a kid, I was warned not to go there.” I turn up the alley. There’s a lot of graffiti. Next to an anarch...

By Kevin Rushby